Two more storms likely to arrive in autumn: CWB

TAIPEI--Two more storms or typhoons could hit Taiwan between September and November, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) forecast Friday.

It is very likely that Taiwan will experience an active period of tropical storms this autumn, following relatively weak activity in August, said Cheng Ming-dean, director of the bureau's Weather Forecast Center.

No storms have formed over the West Pacific so far this month due to a weak monsoon trough and areas of lower sea-level pressure, which is unfavorable to storm development, Cheng said.

"It was a very unique phenomenon," Cheng went on, adding that the record is an all-time low since 1958, when the CWB first started issuing storm warnings.

Storms in autumn are likely to form to the east of the country and can be stronger than storms at other times of the year, especially when they are accompanied by seasonal winds, he said.

In addition, Cheng said, autumn weather can be drier because of an El Nino Southern Oscillation episode, a climate effect that tends to bring dry weather over the South China Sea, the Philippines, Indonesia and Taiwan.